TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Passports are our identity as citizens of a certain nation while traveling abroad. A passport is an official document released by relevant agencies for cross-border travel containing the personal data of its holders.
Showing passports are mandatory before entering the border of a country. However, several states have specific agreements to allow their citizens to enter parties to the agreement with other documents aside from passports.
A number of countries have strong passports which exempt their citizens from visa requirements before entering the territories of other countries. What are the countries with some of the strongest passports in the world?
List of countries with the strongest passports
A London-based residence and citizenship planning firm, Henley & Partners, released a 199-state list of passport strength with 277 destinations. The ranking is obtained by collecting data from the International Air Transport Association or AITA into The Henley Passport Index 2024.
The Henley Passport Index is updated monthly, with historical data spanning 19 years. As of January 15, 34 countries are included in its top 10 list of worldwide strongest passports.
Germany, Italy, Japan, Singapore, and Spain mutually hold the title of the first countries with the strongest passports with access to 194 countries free of visa.
In the second position, Finland, South Korea, and Sweden could access 193 destinations visa-free.
The third position is held by Austria, Denmark, Ireland, and the Netherlands. The citizens of the four European countries could access 192 countries without applying for visas.
Next, Belgium, Luxembourg, Norway, Portugal, and the United Kingdom collectively hold access to 191 countries visa-free.
Ranked fifth, Greece, Malta, and Switzerland records access to 190 countries free of visa. All European Union citizens are not only allowed to travel visa-free in EU country members but they are also legally allowed to enter and live in the countries.
In the sixth position, Henly & Partners mentioned Australia, Czech Republic, New Zealand, and Poland which could travel freely to 189 countries.
Canada, Hungary, and the United States hold the seventh position with the strongest passports in the world. The three countries are allowed to travel visa-free to 188 countries.
Two North European countries are ranked eighth, namely Estonia and Lithuania which could travel without visa to 187 countries.
The ninth position is held by Latvia, Slovakia, and Slovenia with access to 186 countries, and the last position is held by Iceland which holds access to 185 countries.
On the other hand, Indonesia holds the 66th position with access to 78 countries visa-free. Indonesia's position is far below its ASEAN counterparts, such as Malaysia (ranked 12th) and Brunei Darussalam (ranked 20th).
MELYNDA DWI PUSPITA | HENLEY GLOBAL | INDONESIABAIK.ID
Editor's Choice: Turkey to Provide Visa-free Entry to Indonesian Passport Holders
Click here to get the latest news updates from Tempo in Google News
